We believe an injustice has been done to Dana Rone, a talented, committed, and honest young woman, by continuing to bar her from holding public office. Dana’s career began as a public housing and education activist and carried her to the Newark City Council on Mayor Cory Booker’s slate.

On Dec. 20, 2006, Dana made a mistake. In response to a phone call from her nephew, who had been stopped for a traffic violation by the Rutgers-Newark police, she went to the scene and got into a confrontation with the police officers. Dana was arrested and convicted in municipal court for the disorderly persons offense of obstruction of the administration of justice and she was fined.

While making no excuses for what happened that evening, we note two undisputed facts. First, Dana never asked for favorable treatment for her nephew, who ultimately received two tickets. Second, the bulk of her conversation with the police officers took place while she was handcuffed in the back seat of their patrol car, hardly in a position to intimidate anyone.

After the municipal court conviction, a bizarre series of events unfolded.

The Attorney General’s Office mistakenly directed the Essex County Prosecutor to make application to remove Dana from office and bar her from holding a public position for life, without first considering whether to waive such drastic consequences.

Because Dana was convicted only of a disorderly persons offense, Paula Dow, then Essex County Prosecutor, eventually corrected the mistake, conducted a waiver evaluation and concluded that Dana’s background and the facts of the case did not warrant forfeiture and a lifetime ban. However, it was too late. The court rejected the prosecutor’s change of position and ordered Dana removed and permanently barred from public employment.

As one of his final actions, Gov. Jon Corzine lifted Dana’s lifetime ban, but delayed its effect until Jan. 1, 2014. To make matters worse, in an editorial on Jan. 23, this newspaper castigated Corzine, calling his action a "setback for a state struggling to sanitize its political image . . ." The newspaper disregarded Dana’s otherwise unblemished character and the circumstances of this case, arguing that we needn’t consider them because there are plenty of other people who are suitable to hold public office.

As abhorrent as we find corruption, we cannot accept the dehumanization of someone in the name of improving our state’s "political image." Dana Rone did not sell her office, nor did she use her power to injure anyone. She was not paid for a no-show job. In fact she did none of the things that the Legislature has classified as indictable official misconduct. Her career has been the antithesis of corrupt, clubhouse politics. We cannot find a comparable case where a public official involved in a confrontation with police officers or others, has been barred from public office.

Dana and her constituents have paid a heavy price for a momentary lapse of judgment. Enough is enough.

The Rev. Reginald Jackson is executive director of the Black Ministers Council of New Jersey. Ed Stier is former director of the state Division of Criminal Justice.